Week 2 – Seven Weeks to Wisdom: What is Wisdom? Part 2

Lesson 2 of the Quest for Truth "Seven Weeks to Wisdom" curriculum.

Practice Duration 60 minutes

Lesson developed bySkip Masback

Materials Checklist

Bibles: New Revised Standard or New International Versions
Candle
Copy of “Seven Weeks to Wisdom: Week II” Handout of Excerpts if you prepare one
Writing Instruments
Flip Chart Pad (with Post-It strip or masking tape)
Three small different colored pads of post it notes
Enough 4×6 index cards for each student to have two cards
One copy each of the following Aesop’s Fables:
The Boy and the Filberts
The Crow and the Pitcher
The Fox and the Grapes
3 Music Playing Devices (e.g. Smart phones, Tablets, Laptops) with
speakers
A Way of accessing recordings and lyrics of the following songs by Dennis Brown, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, and The Carter Family. The following links are to ad-sponsored sites. The songs are readily available on apps like Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, and Google Play without ads). The additional songs are optional – to be used instead of or in addition to the selected songs.

Dennis Brown: “Words of Wisdom” Recording
“Words of Wisdom” Lyrics
The Beatles: “The End” Recording
“The End” Lyrics
Michael Jackson: “Man in the Mirror” Recording
“Man in the Mirror” Lyrics
The Carter Family: “Give Me Roses While I Live” Recording
“Give Me Roses While I Live” Lyrics

Optional Alternative or Additional Songs:

Esperanza Spalding: “Dancing the Animal (Mind)” Recording
“Dancing the Animal (Mind)” Lyrics
The Carter Family: “Keep on the Sunny Side” Recording
“Keep on the Sunny Side” Lyrics
The Byrds: “Turn! Turn! Turn!” Recording
“Turn! Turn! Turn!” Lyrics

Gather

Gather (5 minutes)

Invite the youth to sit in a circle. As they settle down, place a candle in the center of the circle and ask one of the young people to light it.
Invite the youth to close their eyes as they listen to Dennis Brown sing “Words of Wisdom.”

Dennis Brown: “Words of Wisdom” Recording

Pass out a copy of Brown’s lyrics printed on a page that also includes the Biblical passage read during Week I: Proverbs 1:20-31. “Words of Wisdom” Lyrics
Ask the youth what they notice when they compare the two sets of text. Brown closes his song with the exhortation, “Live up, live up, now now, live up! Never give up righteousness!” In his book, Reggae Wisdom: Proverbs in Jamaican Music, Anand Prahlad writes, “‘Live up’ is a traditional Rastafari expression meaning to live in a dignified, spiritual manner according to the precepts of knowledge.” “Live up” is, in other words, a call to live according to precepts of wisdom.
Lead an opening prayer expressing gratitude to God for the gift of wisdom passed down from generation to generation. Pray for God’s help that we might “Live up” in our lives together as a group, “Live up” in our lives as a community, and “Live up” as a world.

Introduction to the Session (5 Minutes)

Last week we explored the subject of wisdom and reflected on the many different sources of what Maya Angelou called “mother wit” or “homely sayings couched in the collective wisdom of generations. This week we’re going to take a closer look at how these different sources of wisdom are similar or perhaps different.

Engage

Engage (30 minutes)

Activity I: The Many Sources of Wisdom Part I (15 Minutes)

At the close of last week’s gathering, you invited students to reflect during the week on the many sources of “collective wisdom” passed down from one generation to the next. The possible sources included, but were not limited to, Biblical passages, poems, books, songs, movies, stories, sayings, parental teachings, etc. Go around the circle asking each student to identify the source of wisdom they identified.
Ask three volunteers to share the source of wisdom they selected (reading their poem or story or playing their music or video clip and inviting discussion as time permits).

Activity II: The Many Sources of Wisdom Part II (15 Minutes)

Divide your group into three subgroups.
Assign each subgroup one of the following three sets of wisdom sources.
Give each group writing implements and flip Chart Pads.
Make sure each group has a music device with sufficient amplification.
Ask each group to take about 15 minutes to reflect on the three sources they’ve been assigned.
Ask them to reflect on the following questions with respect to each of their sources.

Does the source include an element of wisdom? What is it? What does it mean?
Can they think of an example of a circumstance in their life or the life of their friends, their school, or their community when the wisdom offered would apply?

Ask each group to record their answers on their flip chart pads.
When the 15 minutes conversation is concluded, ask each group to
post their pad pages on the walls of the room.
Post one copy of the
lyrics, fable and Bible passage next to each group’s pad pages.

Wisdom Sources:

Group 1:

Michael Jackson: “Man in the Mirror” Recording and Lyrics

Aesop’s Fable: “The Boy and the Filberts”

Proverbs 17:9

9 One who forgives an affront fosters friendship,
but one who dwells on disputes will alienate a friend.

Group 2:

The Beatles: “The End” Recording and Lyrics

Aesop’s Fable: “The Crow and the Pitcher”

Proverbs 17:14

14 The beginning of strife is like letting out water;
so stop before the quarrel breaks out.

Group 3:

The Carter Family: “Give Me Roses While I Live” Recording and Lyrics

Aesop’s Fable: “The Fox and the Grapes”

Proverbs 22:24-25

24 Make no friends with those given to anger,
and do not associate with hotheads,
25 or you may learn their ways
and entangle yourself in a snare.

Reflect

Reflect (15 minutes)

Gather the youth back in the circle around the candle.
Hand out the post-it notes and index cards.
Ask them to review each of the posted flip chart pages and printed lyrics or fables.
As they circulate reviewing the posted reflections and texts, ask them to reflect on the various bits of wisdom and decide on one element they want to try to reflect and act upon during the coming week.
Invite them to write the wisdom advice they’ve selected on their index card to take home and place a post-it note with their name next to the text posted on the wall.
Re-gather around the circle, and, as time permits, invite the youth to share a few words about the selection they’ve made and why.
Ask the youth to take short notes during the week as they reflect and act upon the element of wisdom they have chosen for focus. Ask them to revise the “saying”, proverb, or prescription of wisdom they have chosen to reflect their continuing thoughts.
Ask that, before the next meeting, they edit their “saying”, proverb, or prescription to reflect their continued thinking based on their own experience and bring the edited “proverb” back to share with the group next week.

Send Forth

Send Forth (5 minutes)

Invite the youth to join you in prayer. Let them know before you begin that there will be an opportunity for those who wish to lift up requests for God’s help with specific elements of wisdom during the prayer. Give a few possible examples. Note that every time a “petition” is lifted up, the group will respond with, “Lord, hear our prayer.”
Begin the prayer by thanking God for the blessings of creation, the God-given capacities we have to learn from experience, and the lessons learned by those who have gone before that they have passed along to us as “mother wit.” Invite the students to voice petitions asking God to help us embrace particular pieces of wisdom in our lives, communities, and our world. After any student offers a petition (e.g., “Lord, help us to be mindful the need to think through the consequences of what we say before we speak”) lead the group in responding “Lord, hear our prayer.”
When everybody has had a chance, if they wish, to offer a petition, bring the prayer to a close and say the Lord’s Prayer in unison.

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